good morning. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade this morning, and yes, you have time for that second cup of coffee as we get you up to date on this morning's stories. a woman who said she ran over her -- who was run over by her father has died. they're specifically targeting holiday travelers. a 24-year-old woman has died nearly two weeks after her father ran her over with his jeep. noor maleki and her father are

from iraq, and her father thought she had become too westernized. the boyfriend's mother was also hit, but she is expected to survive. >> this behavior is not islamic. this person was not ablcting li the muslims that i know act. this consumed the individual in a way that he felt he had to end the life of that poor girl. >> they moved to peoria, arizona in the mid-1990s. the father fled after the attack but he was arrested after arriving at a u.k. airport. he was sent back to the united states after he was denied entrance. federal health officials hope that announcement will reassure expectant mothers. 92% of pregnant women in trial studies had a robust immune

response to a single dose and no side effects were reported. trials also confirmed that kids nine years and younger will need two doses. new this morning, this could be a huge mess. almost a million people are having to find a new way around philadelphia right now. the city's largest transit union went on strike overnight, and that means no buses, subways or trolleys in the city. talks broke down over the rules. talks were competitive. a 15-year-old girl was gang raped at the school, and the district put up automated lights in the area where they say it happened. today they're taking bids for security cameras. the superintendent assured people at a rally yesterday that the school is safe. church leaders called for 100 volunteers to help. >> we believe that if we can have a presence on campus during the lunch hour, in the

classroom, that that would help curb some of the negative behavior. >> what i would say to parents is that i've got two daughters myself, and i would have my daughters going to richmond high. >> police have five people in custody and they say that more arrests are likely. meanwhile, support is pouring in for the victim. another rally scheduled for this afternoon, and police say people from around the world are sending donations, even teddy bears, because the girl collects them. get on line and book that flight before the fees get up even higher. our money expert jennifer west hoefen says they're adding on money. >> they're adding the surcharge if you travel on the busiest days of thanksgiving and christmas. they want to make as much as possible on the days where people really are flying to make up for the empty seats on some of the other days. you know, and not just right

around the holidays. that could be into january and february. but experts say it's a whole new ball game this year. maybe last year you waited, you got a good fare at the last minute. they say don't wait this year. it's better to buy as soon as you can. >> good advice. thank you. the polls are open in new york. this race being watched all across the country. doug hoffman is battling with bill owens for the 23rd republican district. jeannie scofield's father is backing owens. she backed off from conservatives who said she was too moderate. top gop leaders and the committee have put their resources behind hoffman. new this morning, nearly after of u.s. kids could be on food stamps at some point during childhood. a new study says 90% of african-american kids and 30% of white kids may get food stamps by age 20.

it says these kids may be at risk for malnutrition and the recession could push those alarming numbers even higher. the studies in the archives of pediatrics and adolescent medicine. lawmakers want to ban using laptops in cockpits. you remember last month. the pilot of that northwest airlines plane that shot the airport over 150 miles said they were on their laptops when it happened. the chairman of the aviation subcommittee said a bill could be introduced in about a week. other devices like dvd players and mp3 players would also be included. >> yeah, we wouldn't want them to fly the plane or anything. wow. what's going on this morning, natasha? >> rain stopped across the southeast, right, but a lot of people still have flood watches and warnings in effect. >> that's mainly for arkansas back into the mississippi river and places like illinois, too. they have flood warnings from

all the rain over the weekend. surprisingly, with all the rain we're seeing over the deep soult east, florida has seen one of the driest weeks on record. the heaviest rain by far is in florida, but it picks up to the north and slides down between fort pierce and miami today. winds out of the northeast, so watch for showers to develop mainly toward orlando. it's not going to be severe and probably won't be that heavy. the west coast looks pretty good. los angeles metro, you're looking at a lot of fog this morning. we saw one-16th of a mile visibility at l.a.x. that's because of the dense fog. that's the way it will be the first part of the day. temperatures back into the low 80s for you out there. high pressure dominates over the great lakes for now, but we're also watching the flood watch continue for the areas we put in green, but the good news, no

rain for the next five or six days. snow for the u.p. in michigan, sliding into detroit. rain around northern new england this morning falling apart, but look at the temperatures behind that. 30 in marquette, about 34 in alpina. it switches over to snow for the u.p. in michigan. not a lot. about an inch. >> the kids will love it. thanks, bob. millions of people who are out of a job may get a lifeline for the holiday. how soon congress could extend unemployment benefits.

sto stomp. morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. today's salute is from cynthia garcia. it's to her husband sergeant

samuel garcia. cynthia says he may be a tough marine, but he also has a heart of gold. >> my name is cynthia garcia in hacienda heights, california, and my husband is samuel garcia. hey, babe. the girkids and i miss you, and there's not a day that goes by that we don't want you home. we want you to know that we have one of the best. your commitment to your country is appreciated. be careful, god bless and we love you. >> if you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them, we'd like to help you. go to cnn.com/robin. the man accused of raping and killing a popular anchorwoman faced the people who could decide his fate. curtis vance was in court in arkansas yesterday for the start of jury selection. he could get the death penalty

if convicted. ann pressly was found brutally beaten in her bed last year. the police tricked him into giving dna and taped confessions. a group of scientists spent two months living on top of mt. kilimanjaro, and they made some shocking discoveries there. rafer, in a few minutes, hear how quickly they could disappear. this week could be the week an extension of jobless benefits could become a reality. our money expert jennifer west hoefen is looking out for you. they cleared another hurdle yesterday, right? >> if you're one of the people who have been waiting, thinking, my benefits are going to run out soon, i really need this. but the senate closer to reality. up to 21 weeks of jobless benefits, and that could help millions of people to get through the holidays. the bill in the works would also

extend that first time homebuyer tax credit. it would run through june. right now it's supposed to expire at the end of november. it would likely, though, cost this bill about $20 billion. lawmakers want to pass it, though, or really get some action here before friday, because on friday, we are likely to see a headline that unemployment has hit 10% in the united states. maybe not; it may be very close to there, but i think they're really concerned about that. that would be the first time they've seen that since 1983. this holiday season, your favorite charity may not be able to help as many people. donations are expected to be down about 9% this year. that is according to the chronicle of philanthropy. that's according to usa today. it's a big drop, and people are still giving, but they're giving a little less during the holidays. that's a little bit of tough news, but if you're traveling this morning, you may have a

good time of it. bob? >> we're doing audibles with hand signals. the reason why i can do it is the traveling today, it's going to be great, jen. you want to do some good stuff. you're not getting major delays this morning. even with a wind out of the northeast today, maybe a little delay getting to newark because of the wind, but so far nothing. you might get a short delay and a bumpy ride in new england, but otherwise, atlanta, l.a., denver, morning clouds and fog. l.a.x. right now has disability of less than a mile. a good day to travel just about everywhere. more in a bit. a college football player gets caught on camera trying to gouge some eyes out. >> what this guy did was truly

obscene. the question is, is the punishment acceptable? how he was disciplined and why it's got some equally upset and what you're saying about it. >> it was black first --

lerch of the -- lerch of the nation's lanchest business groups are trying to defeat the decision in the house. they call the legislation a bill that america can't afford to pay. yesterday one congresswoman echoed that sentiment with some controversial words. >> i believe that the greatest fear that we all should have to our freedom comes from this

room, this very room, and what may happen later this week in terms of a tax increase bill massac masquerading as a terrorist bill. i believe we have more fear on that than we do anything else in the country. >> the lady says she was speaking off the cuff. he serves in the military state guards. clark and robin teamed up to help soldiers and you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. >> all right, specialist greg fry is right here and he has a question about something i have seen on the commercials again and again, and i know you guys have on our own station as well. go ahead and ask the question. >> clark, what is the best way to invest in gold?

>> other than turn in your wife's story or something like that? >> first, all the ads you see on tv from people to buy your jewelry and all that, run away. run away and not to them. second, buying gold is tough because when you buy actual gold, you have to pay a commission to buy it, you have to pay a commission to sell it. and then let's say you put real money into gold -- let's say you took all your savings and put it into gold. gold is something people want to steal, so then you've got to pay to lock it up. then there isn't anything i like about buying gold, but there's a way to buy it quick and easy if you want to own gold. you can buy ownership in gold after you buy a stock, and it's

called an etf, an exchange traded fund, which sounds complicated, but it's not, and you pay a company to buy gold for you, they store it for you in a vault, and then when you choose to sell it, you can sell it right away at whatever market price is. it's really, really easy to do, and it saves you a fortune. and you have the same thing owning gold. >> watch operation clark smart this weekend at 6:00 a.m., noon, and 4:00 p.m. eastern here on hln. a football player was cau t caught on camera trying to gouge out another player's eyes, and his punishment has some people upset. here's rafer weigel with the video. gross to watch. >> yes, natasha, it is. eye gouging is so deplorable because you're defenseless against it. here's spikes jamming his

fingers into the face mask of georgia's washon eely. the response to that? the coach doesn't condone the behavior. that's good he doesn't condone it, and he brought down the hammer, sort of. he suspended him for the first half in the game against vanderbilt. half. he did apologize, saying he accepts responsibility for his actions, and the conference says they're satisfied with the discipline. are you satisfied with it? this is what you're saying on our facebook page. ann wroet, it should be harsher. it's one thing if it's a mistake, but he did this on purpose. we need to crack down on this kind of conduct. while dwayne says, unfortunately, this is a part of college football. he just got caught. a half-game suspension says just that. do you agree or do you disagree? go to cnn.com/robin and we'll get your comment on the air. in other news, the saints

are keeping the good times rolling with an exciting win over atlanta. look at that high-flying catch by marcus colston. these guys could literally go undefeated the entire year. the falcons have another chance with a hail mary. the semi-pro team, the los angeles cobras returning when his own teammate tackles him. what are you doing? look at the poor guy's reaction. he figures it out after he tackles him. he's just like, oh, wait -- geez, what have i done? >> he's not going to live that one down. >> no, he's not, because this has already got over 1,000 hits on youtube. natasha? >> rafer, thank you. so ruth the elephant is finally out of a moat at the

milwaukee zoo. she slipped and fell in, poor thing. workers tried to lure her out with special treats and pumpkins, but she finally came out on her own when they turned their back on her, and she just had a few scratches. birds hitting a plane hard enough to knock a hole out of it. wait until you see the damage.

a 20-year-old woman whose father allegedly ran her down with his jeep has died. noor maleki's father thought she had become too westernized. the mother of her boyfriend was hit, too, but she is expected to be okay. both women were walking through a park, lot together when they were attacked. maine is trying to decide whether to legalize a law on same-sex marriage. five other states have legalized same-sex marriage through court rulings or legislative action. a california appeals court

will hear oral arguments from norman polanski's attorneys next month. they are pushing to dismiss charges on the actor whether he is present or not. polanski fled 30 years ago before he was sentenced with unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. on this tuesday morning, welcome back. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade today. right now people are voting in some key elections. voters in new jersey are choosing a governor. chris christi is running against jon corzine. meanwhile in virginia, republican bok mcdonneb mcdonne running against deeds. atlanta, boston, detroit, houston and new york also have elections. a major business newspaper was shut down in iran.

state-run tv says the paper violated press laws and criticized iran's equal opportunity policies. the paper's editor was arrested after iran's disputed presidential vote in june. at least one other paper was shut down since then. police say it could be weeks before they identify six women found dead at a home in cleveland. the coroner is collecting dental records for several missing women, including nancy cobbs, who lived in the neighborhood. he's also asking their relatives to provide dna samples, but one missing person's advocate said the deaths could have been prevented. >> nancy cobbs walked to the store, walked to the store on 116th and hasn't been seen since. six families are going to get horrible news. but if we had a missing persons department or we had an active ongoing investigation into all these cases as much as possible, maybe none of this would have happened. >> police are trying to get a

warrant to collect dna from the man who lived at the home. they're also tracing all the places he's lived since he got out of prison in 2005. he hasn't been charged with any crimes related to the bodies found at his house, and if you want to get the latest on the case on prime time, watch nancy grace every weekday at 8:00 and 10:00 eastern right here on hln. they will pay more than a million dollars to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit. the federal class action suit claimed lawry's only hired women to wait on tables. a male employee claimed lawry's denied him a job because of his sex. battling multiple sclerosis, a woman finished the new york city marathon more than a day after it started. here's rafer with that story. >> natasha, there is nothing more grueling than running a marathon 26.2 miles.

well, you can't imagine how hard it must be for this woman. 61-year-old zoe koplawitz completed the new york city marathon on monday wearing a back brace and using crutches. she suffers multiple sclerosis and finished the run in just under 26 hours. she is truly an inspiration. >> definitely so, rafer. thank you. new numbers this morning show a slight majority of americans approve of how president obama is handling his job. in a cnn research corporation poll, it found 54% of people surveyed gave him a thumbs up, but they're not as happy about how he's handling the economic crisis. 49% said they liked his tax policy, and 47% approved of how he is handling unemployment. all right, so we're not having any flooding or rain in

the studio. i knocked over the water bottle with my belly again here. how you doing? >> every time i see someone rush to your desk with towels, i get nervous. should i call 911? >> not yet. >> it's just a spill, okay. remember what happened last week with all the rain stretching across texas? you had flooding concerns. today is different. you have a dry atmosphere, and that's going to give you about five or six days to dry out, and that's all the areas shaded in green. those are the flood warning areas. you are going to continue to dry out over the next couple days. no major rain headed for you through the week, so good news. have a cold front dropping in the northeast right now. the only thing this will do is stir up a littles light rain in the northern part of new england and down into the mid-atlantic

later today. the winds will be out there, but it's also cold behind. the 33 degrees in marquette is going over lake superior. you can see the feathery look to it on the radar. that is all snow, so something we're watching there. no warnings for it. it's not even going to pile up too much. maybe an inch at the most. that's all you'll get. heavy rain across the country. it's falling in the ocean. it's not even there yet for florida. give it some time. you will see some rain redevelop today. orlando, maybe around the miami areas as well. speaking of that, what a great day for a swim. check it out. this is a dolphin we just caught in miami about ten minutes ago. our producer, susan, rolled on it. you can see the blow hole spitting up there. that's a dolphin just about ten minutes ago, so there you go. >> look at him, just playing in the morning. that's so cute.

>> mostly dry and just a slight chance of a thunderstorm. looks like there's about two of them in there. >> yeah. good day to celebrate with a swim. a disturbing video of anna nicole smith could become the center of attention in the trial over her death. >> you've lost your mind. >> huh? >> remember this video here? well, the defense and prosecutors have very different stories about what this tape shows.

39 minutes past the hour. a man is going to prison for pointing a laser beam at two

planes as they approached an airport. dana christian welch was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison yesterday. the officials in l.a. said he was the first victim interfering with pilots and their flights. one beam hit one in the eye. police say a friend got two calls, one right after the other, from one of the women sunday night. both calls mentioned water and said they needed help. then broke off. the women play softball for dickinson state university. they're believed to be in a white 1997 jeep cherokee with california plates. you may remember disturbing video of anna nicole smith dressed up as a clown just a month before she died of a drug overdose. it could become key in a trial of three people accused of

giving her those drugs. she appears to confuse a doll for her unborn child. >> is that your baby? >> my baby is over there sleeping. >> your baby down there. >> your baby down here. >> that one. >> i think i just had a little gas. >> say it again. >> i just think i'm having some gas trouble. >> prosecutors say that smith's behavior in that video proves her boyfriend, howard k. stern, and her two doctors were keeping her drugged. they showed it in a preliminary hearing last week. the defense says it shouldn't be used as evidence in the trial because smith was acting, and the part that proves it got edited out. the defendants pleaded not guilty. stores are not waiting for black friday this year to roll out some deep price cuts. our money expert jennifer we

westhoven is here for some great deals. >> there is some great deals out there, but wow, some of these deals. sears is starting what they call black friday now. if you don't want to wake up at 4:00 in the morning after thanksgiving, they're going to have some blockbuster deals every friday to get you in the door. this friday they're having a plaz ma tv deal. toys are us is having gift cards, like if you buy $75 worth of stuff, you get a $10 card. the point is that the price wars are really on out there. a lot of the retailers working hard to try to get your dollar. that's good for you. two giants in the tool business, names you know, are merging. stanley works from connecticut, they specialize in hard things like ham measures. they're buying black & decker from maryland. black & decker big in the power tools.

the two of them want to survive the slow-down in housing construction. they say some black & decker jobs will be lost in the merger. a mother watched her baby fall right in front of a train. we showed you this incredible video. you're going to hear the woman talk about her agony and find out how her baby boy is doing today.

we're now hearing from a mother who watched her baby boy fall in front of an oncoming train when his stroller tumbled onto the tracks. >> there was a woman that thought i should jump, but i just thought for a second that i should have a look of what has happened to him. i just wanted to have a look, how is he? and that time i just -- i was blank. i was in complete shock. >> amazingly, her son is doing fine. he only had a few scratches after the accident in australia last month. the train's engineer saw the stroller fall and hit the brakes, but the train still rolled another 100 feet. the fbi is looking for

whoever killed a nun inside new mexico. sister maria barts never made it to the church. she was found dead in her home on a nav ho reservation. a new study shows the snow and ice that covered mt. kilimanjaro could be gone in 20 years. scientists collected data on africa's highest peak for two months and they found the ice shield has shrunk nearly 20% since 2000. losing it altogether would be devastating for the environment and the economy. tourism generates about $50 million a year. the world series took another dramatic turn, and it's headed back to the bronx. here's rafer weigel with the latest on that. hey, rafer. >> yeah, natasha, things are sunny in philadelphia again.

do you know what they did? >> what? >> they changed their music. they stopped playing jay-z in the did you ugout. they were against the wall. the yankees were the ones doing the dancing in the dugout. that's cabrera. isn't he hurt? >> that's what they said. >> he doesn't look hurt to me. this guy has one of the best names if baseball. he had not one, but two home runs in the game to lead philly to the win. utley now has five home runs through the entire series, which is amazing, so we're going back to the bronx for game 6 on wednesday. i hope you didn't stay up all night, bob. in other baseball news a milestone has been reached in professional sports with the chicago cubs. the cubs have the first openly gay owner. laura ricketts of the ricketts family who bought the team is an open lesbian. she came out in her 30's and her family supports her 100%.

he intentionally tried to gouge the eyes of georgia's w k washon eely, not good. the coach suspended him for one half of the game against vanderbilt, one half. the school and conference are satisfied with the punishment. are you? should this be over or should spikes be disciplined more? chris wrote, meyer should really suspend him for getting caught. although it's really bad, that and worse occurs on the football field when they pile up after every play. doug from st. louis says, i'm so tired of these suspensions. if anybody did something like that in the regular work force, we would be fired in a heartbeat. do you agree or disagree with that? leave a comment. wilson mobley told reporters

he had to get a rabies shot after he swatted down this bat. somehow the bat got into the at&t center. he insists after he swatted it, he gives it to an usher, the usher took it outside and the bat flew away. the bat is okay and he is okay, and he said, kids, do not try this on your own. don't hit bats. he actually did say that to reporters. >> yeah, and hopefully the ush usher got a rabies shot, too. >> yeah, what about the usher? the bat is okay, everybody is okay. they took out a religious rite on "the joy behar show" last night. see how they're exploiting their listeners. >> those are the people that really piss me off. i understand people who are angry and fearful. i understand church is a huge part of their life. i understand people not wanting their daughters to watch mtv -- i understand the appear tathy oe

people. the people who come along and make use of those fears to make money or a position

.f

both bring back a diamond anniversary ring she lost the saturday night. >> i had it enlarged. then when it got coal, your fingers get smaller. i noticed it was spinning around more than it had before, but i didn't notice the it was so loose it would slip off. so as i was throwing candy, my suspicion is, that i inadvertently threw my ring, too. >> reporter: yep. some little trick-or-treater is now in the possession of a three-diamond vintage ring. >> they didn't the tell me until

today, but when she told me i just really felt sorry for her. >> reporter: so stephen olsen did what every husband would do. he called everybody including us to explain. >> we were thinking that normally after halloween the kids empty their bags and buckets and sort it out and hopefully some little kids got a little stack with a diamond ring on it. >> reporter: elizabeth, meanwhile, well, she's stressed but she hasn't lost her sense of humor and faith in karma. >> you're disappointed, but, you know, it's not like i'm the first or last person it ever happened to. i just hope it finds igts way back. >> thanks to dan wells of wxix for that report. going home for the holidays could cost you extra this year. airlineses plan to squeeze more money out of you, wu there is still a way to save. oh, yes. smoo

it's tuesday. good morning to you you. i'm in for robin meade this morning. hope you're having a good morning. federal health officials are paying special attention to pregnant motherses an children in the h1n1 flu outbreak. now new guidance on how many shots you'll need. some states in major cities will soon have new leaders. we're following the big races today. and controversy for a major college football team. cameras caught a player jamming his fingers inside an opponent's helmet. you may be surprised how he's being punished. our top story this morning, a 20-year-old woman whose father allegedly ran her over with his jeep has died. she was in a coma for about two weeks and had spinal surgery.

she and her family moved to arizona from iraq and authorities say her father thought she had become too westernizeded. the father is expected to face new charges in what some call is an honor killing. >> that dishonor consumes that individual such that the act in a way that's barbaric and they're legitimized to end the life of that poor girl. >> the mother of her boyfriend was hit as well. he was arrested last thursday when he arrived in atlanta's airport. he was sent there from the uk after authorities there denied him entrance. one dose of the h1n1 vaccine can protect almost all pregnant women from the flu. federal health officials hope that announcement will reassure expectant mothers. they say 92% of pregnant women in trial studies had a robust

immune response to a single vaccine dose and no side effects were with reported. trials also confirm that nine kids -- rather that kids 9 years and younger will need two doses. if you're flying to see your family for the holidays, get online and book the flight before the fees go any higher. jennifer westhoven says the airlines are loading on yet another round of surcharges. >> merry christmas! have another round of fees. the major airlines just doubled the surcharge if you want to travel on the busiest days around thanksgiving and christmas. that could put another $40 on to your ticket. they basically want to make as much as possible on the days where people are flying to make up for the days where we're not. travel xpergts say, this is a whole different ball game from last year. last year it could pay to wait until the end, great last-minute fare deals. they say this year better to buy as soon as you can. >> thanks for the heads-up. polls are opening across the country and many of you have important issues to decide in

your local elections. in atlanta, there is a chance that voters could elect their first white mayor in more than three decades. councilwoman mary norwood is among the front runners for the job along with lisa borders and state senator kasim reid. new this morning, more than half of america's kids could be on food stamps during childedhood. these kids may be at risk for nal nutrition and the recession could push the alarming numbers even higher. the study is in the archives of pediatrics and adolescent medical sin. police say it could be weeks before they identify six women found dead at a home in cleveland. the coroner is collecting dental records for several missing women, including nancy kobz who lived in the neighborhood. he also is asking their relatives to provide dna samples. but one missing persons advocate

says the deaths could have been prevented. >> nancy cobbs walked to the store. walked to the store on 116th and hasn't been seen since. six families are going to get horrible news. better if we had a missing persons department or an active, ongoing investigation in all of these cases as much as possible, maybe none of this would have happened. >> police are trying to get a warrant to collect dna from the man who lived at the home, convicted rapist anthony sowell. they're tracing all of the places he lived since he got out of prison in 2005. he has not been charged with any crimes related to the bodies found at his house. things are not expected to get better for days in an arkansas town hit by flooding. look at the this. earl, arkansas, was flooded saturday after heavy rains drenched the area last week. people think the water is runoff from fields. now, they practically live in a knee-deep lake. to make things worse, sewer pumps have failed so sewage is

mixing with floodwater. >> when i bought the house, they didn't tell me it flooded down here. it's really not livable anytime you can't use the bathroom, your house is not livable. >> a utility company is fixing the pumps but says the drinking water is safe. arkansas was slammed by tornadoes last week, plus months of record rain. hopefully no more recorded rain on the way. let's check in with bob van dillen for the latest on the forecast. >> good morning, little rock, arkansas, they had the rainiest october on record, over 16.5 inches of rain. luckily for you you're not going to see any rain for the next five to six days. great news obviously. high pressure dominating the deep south into the mid-south. we still have the flash flood warnings, all the areas in green. flood advisories, dark-shaded green on the mississippi. that stretches all the way into illinois. no rain, though, again. that's going to be true for five to six days. great flus.

we do have lake-effect snow across the u.p. and a weak cold front riding across the northeast. the only thing this is going to do it get the wind out of the northeast direction later today, probably slow you down at logan, jfk, lurd, maybe newark. light showers across northern new england, mainly vermont and new hampshire, maybe light rain around northern maine this afternoon. it will be really light, won't amount to too much. 35 in alpena, 38 in detroit, up toward marquette, 30 degrees right there. that cold air is racing over the lakes, getting some lake-effect snow out there as well. that's what it looks like, light lake-effect snow but no snow for the mile high city. live to denver, nice start. look at this. >> after all that snow, that is gorgeous. >> it is nice. temperatures back to the 50s. i tell you that snow melted pretty quickly. that is just a gorgeous shot right there. >> it is. >> good morning to you guys. have a good one. more in a bit. >> thank you. the ride to work just got a whole lot easier for hundreds of

thousands of people, but the reopening of the bridge linking san francisco and oakland came with a warning. plus -- what a disturbing video of anna nicole smith six months before she died is now at the center of a legal battle.

morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. we salute the troops every morning. so today's salute is from cynthia garcia. it's to her husband sergeant samuel garcia. cynthia says he may be a tough marine, but he also has a heart of gold. >> my name is cynthia garcia from california. my husband is sergeant samuel garcia. hi, babe. the girls and i love you and miss you very much. your absence weighs heavily on our hearts. you are missed and we want to salute you and tell you we're so proud of our marine. to say i love you doesn't seem like enough these days. we want you to know that we have

one of best. your commitment to your family and country is the best. be careful. god bless and we love you. >> if you have somebody in the service and you'd like to salute them, go to cnn.com/robin. ten minutes past the hour. the san francisco/oakland bay bridge is up and running again. it reopened yesterday nearly a week after 5,000 pounds of steel fell into traffic. transportation officials say that vibrations in the steel rods caused the break. engineers say they may have to close the bridge again for a permanent fix. no word yet on the cost of the repairs. right now people are voting in some key elections. voters in new jersey are choosing a governor. republican challenger chris christy is running against incumbent john corzine. the associated press reports chris gaggette might get enough votes to influence the outcome.

in virginia, there's another election. mayors are being elected in atlanta, boston, detroit, houston and new york. lawyers are calling it a nice little stimulus package for muns of thousands of walmart the employees. they are getting checks from the company in a big legal settlement. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here with more on that. >> this is hundreds of thousands of people who we're talking about who have worked for walmart. they can expect something in the mail after a nevada judge approved this big settlement. walmart is going to be paying between $65 million and $85 million, and this will settle up allegations that it didn't let workers take breaks, that it manipulated time cards to cut their pay. lawyers for the workers say this is real money. it could be anywhere from $150 to $1,000 a person. it will take a few months for the money to get to them, but this covered 39 lawsuits in multiple states.

so that's a lot of people who may be in the past felt like they were cheated who will be getting some kind of compensation. in washington, a lot of the news coming out, the senate hammering out a bill for up to 20 more weeks of jobless benefits, millions of people out of work who could use help and will get relief through the holidays. the bill in the works, it also new includes that first-time home buyer tax credit. they're going to extend that through june. that's why a lot of republicans supported this bill. the whole thing will likely cost about $20 billion, but a lot of lawmakers want to take action on unemployment before friday. that's when we'll get the jobs report and it's probably not going to be pretty. some experts expect that we're going to see 10% unemployment, something we haven't seen since 1983. just to add to that, just a few minutes ago pfizer said they were going to cut about 6% of their -- pardon me. johnson & johnson said they were going to cut about 6% of their

work force. we don't know how much of that is in the united states, how much around will world. job cuts still coming from some of the big companies. also some mergers coming. berkshire hathaway is buying the burlington northern state santa fe. burlington northern santa fe railroad for $44 billion. berkshire, of course, is owned by warren buffett who is widely seen as basically one of the smartest stock market investors in the world. when i say by smartest, i mean richest. he's done the best. >> that's why he's smiling, right? thank you, jen. a sheriff is defending his idea to charge prison inmates $5 a day for rent and even haircuts. another controversial program has gone all the way to the state supreme court.

the man accused of raping and killing a popular anchor woman faced the people who could fate. curtis vance was in court in arkansas for the start of jury selection yesterday. he could get the death penalty if he's elected. anne pressly was found brutally beaten in her bed in october last year. she died days later. vance's lawyer says the police tricked him into giving dna and taped confessions. >> you may remember disturbing video of an in nicole months before her drug overdose. it may become key evidence in the trial of three people accused of giving her those

drugs. see as smith appears to confuse a doll for her unborn child. >> your baby? >> my baby's over there, sleeping. >> your baby down there. >> your baby down here? >> that one. >> i think i just have a little gas. >> say it again. say it again. >> i think i'm having some gas trouble. >> prosecutors say smith's behavior in the video proves her boyfriend, howard k. stern, and her two daughters were keeping her drugged. they showed it at a preliminary hearing last week. defense lawyers say it shouldn't be used as evidence in the trial because smith was acting and the parts that got edited out. the defendants pleaded not guilty. lauerrys will pay more than a million dollars to settle a lawsuit. the federal class-action suit claimed that lowerys only hired

women to wait on tables. a male employee sued the chain in 2003 saying he was denied a job as server because of his sex. a football player was caught on camera trying to gouge out another player's eyes and his punishment has some people just raising their eyebrows. here's rafer weigel with the video. >> natasha, eye gouging is deplorable. i'm not so blind to believe it doesn't happen all the time, but apparently it's not that big of problem for the florida football problem. brandon spikes was caught on camera jamming his fingers into the face mask of georgia's ely. some say, hey, what's the big deal? it happens all the time in football. what's the big deal if he had blinded this man and he couldn't see anymore? apparently his coach urban meyer didn't think it was much of a big deal. he suspended spikes for one half

of the next game saying he doesn't condone it. spikes did apologize saying he accepts responsibility for the actions and the conference is satisfied with the discipline. are you? paul wrote, i don't know nothing about football, but if someone tries to gouge my eyes out, i would want to call the cops and press charges. julie wrote, it's football, not ballet! oh, julie. you're one tough gal. do you agree or disagree? go to cnn.com/robin and click on the facebook icon. in other news, the people of new orleans got something to cheer about. the saints are keeping the good times rolling on their high-flying act. led them to a very exciting win over atlanta on monday night football, the only undefeated team in the nfc. reggie bush's babe, kim car dashian, not there. the falcons had one last chance, a mail mary. it was picked off.

lastly, the ultimate blooper. watch as this guy returns a punt and gets tackled by his own teammate. watch his teammate go, what have i done? i love it. you can just see the whole thought process e.'s definitely making a tackle there and then goes, oh, gosh, what am i doing? >> imagine the locker room after the whole game. he's just getting picked on. >> this has gotten over 100,000 hit on the youtubes. in the next half hour, the world series takes another dramatic turn as the world series turns. natasha. >> is that a play on words? >> no. i actually heard one of our guys call it the youtubes. remember the sheriff in the balloon boy story? called it the youtubes. that's what we call it now. >> let's check in with bob van dillen. >> traveling up toward the northeast, i want to show you live central park in new york because it looks really night nice. want to see a beautiful shot? here it is. not much of a wind yet.

but the cold front will go by and when it does, the winds will pick up out of the northeast. we are watching for some delays' airport. beautiful shot of central park, up to about 60 today. what about the rest of the region? new york state, pennsylvania, look at the volume coming in, going out, philadelphia, new york metro, boston, cleveland and detroit. so far no problem. here's what we have for the day, a weak area of low pressure sliding into the lakes and northeast. about a half hour delay boston logan, new york metros because of the wind, atlanta so far nothing and clouds have not developed around the airport, good news there, l.a.x. they have, denver as well, minneapolis looking at showers but that's it. good day to travel. more in about a half hour. >> bob, thanks. lawmakers want to ban using laptops in cockpits. you may remember last month pilots of that northwest airlines plane that overshot minneapolis by 150 miles. they said they were on their laptops when the whole thing happened. the chairman of the aviation subcommittee said a bill could

be introduced in a week of devices like dvd players and mp3 players would also be included. birds hit a delta plane. more on that coming up.

a 20-year-old woman whose father allegedly ran her down with his jeep has died. her family says that her father thought she had become too westernized. the mother of her boyfriend was hit as well being but she is expected to recover. both women were walking in a parking lot together when had they were attacked. a california appeals court will hear oral arguments from roman polanski's attorneys next month. they're pushing for a lower court whether to dismiss charges against the fugitive director whether he's present or not. polanski fled the country 31 years ago before he was sentenced for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. polygamist church leader warren jeffs is appealing his 2007 rape conviction today. his attorneys argue that jeffs should get a new trial because

they say the judge improperly seated an alternate juror after deliberations began. jeffs was convicted of rape as an accomplice for his role in a 14-year-old girl's marriage. the hearing is set for 3:00 p.m. eastern in salt lake city. those are the headlines. welcome back on this tuesday. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade today. here is a race being watched all over the country, conservative party candidate doug hoffman is battling with democrat bill owens to represent the state's 23rded congressional district. former republican nominee dede is backing owens. she dropped out last weekend amid backlash from conservatives who said she was too moderate. top gop leaders and the republican national committee have put their resources behind hoffman. polls are already open in new york and lines have been forming for about 2 1/2 hours now. new security measures are in place at the california high school where police say a 15-year-old girl was gang-raped. the district put up automated

lights in the area where they say it all happened. today it's taking bids for security cameras. the superintendent assured people at a rally yesterday that the school is safe. church leaders called for 100 volunteers to help. >> we believe that if we can have a presence on campus during the lunch hour, in the classroom, that will help curb some of the negative behavior. >> what i would say to parents is that i've got two daughters myself and i would have my daughters going to richmond high. >> police have five people in custody and they say more arrests are likely. meanwhile, support is pouring in for the victim. another rally is scheduled this afternoon and richmond police say people from around the country are sending donations and even teddy bears because the girl collects them. searches are combing north dakota rangeland for three missing college students. this is a scary story. police say that a friend got two calls, one right after the other, from one of the women sunday night, both calls

mentioned water and said they needed help. then they broke off. the women play soft ball for dickinson state university. they're believed to be in a white 1997 jeep cherokee with california plates. startling new revelations from the night 20-year-old morgan harrington vanished. the college student was last seen october 17th at a metallica concert in charlottesville, virginia. cops now say several witnesses inside and outside the arena reported seeing blood on morgan's face. "mia mike galanos talk birthday this with morgan's dad. >> we're not sure exactly if that occurred before she left for the bathroom or after. i mean, the details of that really aren't clear. you know, we -- we're still hoping for a break and obviously have a large reward eand hope someone can give us more reports on seeing morgan or at least reports of someone who maybe was

acting strange the next day that maybe could lead us to finding morgan. >> get the latest developments on this story on "prime news" tonight with mike galanos, 5:00 p.m. eastern right here on hln. battling multiple sclerosis, a woman finished the new york city marathon. that was more than a day after it started, but she finished. i would have a hard time even starting, rafer. >> you're absolutely right. there's probably nothing -- there is nothing more grueling than rung a 26.2-mile marathon. you can only imagine how hard it was for this woman, 61-year-old zoe completed her 21st new york city marathon wearing braces on her back and knees and using crutches. she suffers from ms and diabetes, walked the entire route with her supporters in just under 29 hours. she is a motivational speaker and she was diagnosedago. she is truly you an inspiration

>> thanks for the story. appreciate it. a pay loot had to make an emergency landing yesterday after birds hit his plane. delta flight was headed from phoenix to salt lake city when it happened. the impact left a small hole above the cockpit window. look at that. but delta says it was only surface damage so the pilot just circled back to phoenix and landed safely. >> the pilot just calmly says, we've hit some birds, and nothing to worry about. we're going to turn around and go back to phoenix. but then when we got on the ground we heard people say at the front heard thud, you know. >> you may remember it was a bird strike that forced captain sullenberger to land his plane in the hudson river in january. the faa says those bird strikes happen every day. one woman apparently knew that she drank too much to be driving so what did she do? she called 911 on herself.

>> the dispatcher asked her to pull over. she finally agreed and when police say they found her she told them she started drinking earlier in the day and then had seven, maybe eight liquor drinks at bars. officers say that her blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit. >> oh, she probably was dialing while she was driving, too, trying to talk, you know. like that's not bad enough. you're liquored eed up at the ti time. >> i'm so glad she called. >> allegedly. everything is allegedly even though she called 911 on herself. let me show you what's happening in florida. tropical-type weather, cold frojt to the north, a warm, humid atmosphere, most of the the rain offshore. that does move in later today. the heaviest rain by far around

the u.s. is going to be across the eastern florida coast. you really need the rain, haven't seen a lot in the last couple of months around ft. lauderdale. a shot of light rain today. we are watching more tropical weather south of here. i mean way south. look at this map we're watching. remember hurricane season ends on november 30th. it goes through that day, ends on december 1st. tropical cyclone formation is a possibility in the yellow circle i put off the coast of basically costa rica and panama. so far you're looking at a weak surface low that formed last night. very unyou organized but the up youer level atmosphere ripe t. may turn into a storm over the next 48 days a 50/50 shot. something interesting you don't see every day in the month of november that far south. here's what it looks like out to the west. from california all the way through in towards the rocky mountains, high pressure. let me zoom into l.a. you can see what it looks like,

low level cloudiness out there, that is a shade of gray, all moving around l.a. in towards l.a.x., too. that is fog, low-level cloudiness and poor visibility. let me take you live to what i think is l.a.x. can't really tell. i love that they have the marks for me just in case. that's less than a quarter mile visibility at the airport here. we're going to get delays out of it first part of the day. then it burns off, temperatures back into the 70ss. the first part of the morning you can see foggy out there in los angeles. more on that in just a bit. look at those air travel delays in about ten minutes. >> thanks so much, bob. foggy! a lot of you are watching your wallets right now, but there is good news in a bad economy. where you're going to be able to find some great early deals for the holidays. plus -- some kid out there has an extra treat worth a whole lot of money. how a woman thinks that she lost her anniversary ring on halloween.

stores are not waiting for black friday this year to roll out deep price cuts. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here with good news in a bad economy. we like this, jen. >> this is going to be a holiday season where i know a lot of people are trying to save. but when it comes to pending, there will be great sales. sears, they're starting what they call black friday now. if you don't want to wake up at 4:00 in the morning on the friday after thkdz gifg for that craziness, every saturday through christmas they'll have doorbustder deals to get you in the door. one is this saturday, for example, a 42-inch plasma for 500 bucks, 150 off the normal price. over at walmart, they're cutting more toy prices. they already started but now some of the toys will be less than 10 bucks.

toys "r" us has new incentives, too. they're really stepping up the price wars out there. you can get some good deals. your favorite charity, it may not be able to help as many people this holiday season. donations are expected to fall by about 9%. that's according to "usa today" this morning, citing a charity group. and it's expected to be a bigger drop compared to last year. an elephant got herself stuck in a mote at the milwaukee zoo. check it out. zoo keepers tried everything to get her out. wait until you hear what finally did the trick.

all right. hi, i'm rafer weigel with sports. what are we starting with, the yankees? we have no prompter, no scripts. the world series. took another dramatic turn. this one is heading back to the bronx. the new york yankees doing a little celebration, perhaps a

little premature. that was melky cabrera supposed to be hurt. chase utley, the second baseman for the phillies, he was the one putting the hurt on the yankees. that guy has the best name in baseball. two home runs to lead the phillies over the yankees as we go back to the bronx for game six. in other baseball news, a milestone has been reached in professional sports with the chicago cubs according to multiple media sources the cubs have the first openly gay owner, laura rickettes of the rickettes family that bought the team from the tribune. she came out in her early 30s and says her family supports her 100%. not getting 100% is florida linebacker brandon spikes who made headlines for intentionally trying to gouge the eyes of ely. his punishment is getting people will upset. urban myers suspended spiekz for one half of their game against vanderbilt. a half for what appears to be

assault. the school and conference are happy with the punishment. are you? should this be over, or should this man be disciplined more? here is what they're saying about it on facebook. the local police have to step in and charge this guy. if a video like this were with to surface with joeblow off the street assaulting someone like that, then the police would be all over it. these athletes are citizens just like the rest of us and have to follow t the same laws. that was mike. jason gray from east lansing, michigan, wrote, it's football lots of things p happen that cameras don't catch. involving outside authorities is inside. it's a rough sport where big guys are beating each other to win the game. do you agree, disagree? go to cnn.com/robin, click on the facebook icon. lastly, spurs guard ginobili told reporters he had to get a rabies shot. remember when a bat flew into

the center and ginobili swat it to the ground? he said he got multiple shots, including rabies shots. he also insists after swatting you see how he pics it up here and he gives it to an usher. that usher is, like, you want me to do what with that thing? the usher took it outside and they insist the bat flew away to the theme song of "born free". >> i'm glad the bat's okay. my goodness. next half hour, still partying in the big easy. we'll tell you why. >> thank you, rafer. right now voters in maine are deciding whether to keep or repeal a law legalizing same-sex marriage. it's considered too close to call, the first time voters will weigh in on the issue. five other states have legalized same-sex marriage through court rulings or legislative action. president obama is throwing his support behind afghan president hamid karzai. he called karzai yesterday to congratulate him on winning aed second term. afghan election officials declared karzai the winner after

his competitor dropped out of a runoff. now president obama is deciding if more u.s. troops should go to afghanistan. retired general wesley clark said this is a key strategic decision. >> when the commander on the ground says he needs more troops to do the mission and you're the commander in chief, you better listen to him. now, it may be that you need to carefully consider what the mission is, but we don't want to get pushed out of afghanistan by battlefield defeats. >> about 68,000 troops are already in afghanistan. the u.s. commander in afghanistan wants up to 40,000 more. the white house says a decision could come within with a few weeks. a trick-or-treater may have something way more valuable than candy in their halloween basket. an ohio woman thinks her diamond anniversary ring slipped off her finger saturday night while she was handing out the candy. >> i had it enlarged and then

when with it got cold, your fingers get smaller. i noticed it's was spinning around more than it had been before, but i didn't realize it was so loose it would just slip off. so as i was throwing candy -- my suspicion is -- in pillowcases and buckets, i inadd vert ently threw my ring, too. the woman is hoping to get her ring back. ♪ it's your birthday happy birthday. if you're celebrating your birthday today, you share it with ivan drago himself. he has a master's degree from chemical engineering from the university of sydney. did you know that? >> remember that? >> i think i do. >> i must break you. >> he was pretty hot. that was a pretty good impressive. >> if he dies, he dies. remember that? that was the best. that was when rocky actually

ended the cold war all by himself in rocky cold war by himself. what's going on right now? we don't have any delays. boston, new york city metros, boston first, watch for half hour delays with the wind moving in. new york city probably see a half hour delay because of wind. minneapolis, st. paul, rain coming in today. afternoon push may be affected with a short delay. l.a.x. 1/16 of a mile visibility due to fog. there's a live camera look. that's a 16th of a mile visibility due to fog right there. we'll talk about when that clears out in just a little bit. >> thanks for the impression again. that was good. >> the best i could do. all right. actor ted danson took on the religious right last night on "the joe behar show" last night on hln. here why he says rush limbaugh and others are exploiting their listeners. >> those are the people that really piss me off, to be

honest. >> which ones? >> i totally understand people who are angry and fearful. i understand who people church is a huge part of their life. i understand people not wanting their daughters to watch mtv. i understand and have empathy for all of those people. the people that come along and make use of those people's fears and insecurities to make money or to make something -- a position for them, you know, more palatable, those people are shame, shame. >> you want to name some names? >> rush. we're talking rush. >> who else? >> pretty much the religious right does that by and large. >> they're extremists? >> yeah. >> and they prey on people's fears. there's a lot of that. >> people's fears, i totally understand. i understand that. i understand wanting to go to a megachurch because the rest of your life is tough. i understand all of that. but then you come along and organize those people off of their fears and anger, and i -- >> catch "the joe behar show" at

9:00 p.m. eastern here on hln. some people won't have to wait long to get an h1n1 flu shot. how one health department is trying to make sure people don't get stuck in the long lines we've been seeing. @@@@@@

it's tuesday. good morning, i'm natasha curry. robin meade's off today. here are the stories making headlines on "morning express." right now voters are deciding key elections. there is reason to pay close attention to the outcome no matter where you live. plus, we have reaction to this woman's death. police say her father ran her down. some are calling it an honor killing. important state elections across the country today may be an early sign of whether republicans are gaining strength. and just how the president's doing. the president worked hard to help democrats in new jersey and virginia. in new jersey democratic governor john corzine is in a close race with republican chris christie. in virginia the democratic

candidate is trailing. here's what some analysts are saying. >> i think what it shows is that the magic wand doesn't work as well as we thought a year ago or was as protective so that when president obama came in and brought in this landslide of democrats with him, that's not working anymore. >> if republicans decide that the news tonight is we got to be more conservative than we already were under george bush and the eight years that he was in power, then they're going to run themselves off the rails. >> new jersey and virginia have long histories of electing governors from whichever party doesn't hold the white house. a 20-year-old woman whose father allegedly ran her over with his jeep has died. she was in a coma for about two weeks and had spinal surgery. she and her family moved to arizona from iraq and authorities say her father thought she'd become too westernized. the father is expected to face new charges in what some are calling an honor killing. >> this behavior is not islamic.

this person was not acting like the muslims that every muslim i've met act. that dishonor consumes that individual such that the act in a way that's barbaric and feel that they're legitimized to end the life of that poor girl. >> the mother of her boyfriend was hit, too. but she is expected to survive. he fled after his daughter's attack. but he was arrested last thursday when he arrived in atlanta's airport. he was sent there from the uk after authorities there denied him entrance. one dose of the h1n1 vaccine can protect almost all pregnant women from the swine flu. federal health officials hope that announcement will reassure expectant mothers. they say 92% of pregnant women in trial studies had a robust immune response to a single vaccine dose and no side effects were reported. trials also confirm kids 9 years and younger will need two doses. new this morning, nearly half of u.s. kids could be on food stamps at some point during

their childhood. a new study says that 90% of african-american kids and 37% of white kids may get food stamps by age 20. it says these kids may be at risk for malnutrition and the recession could push those alarming numbers even higher. if you were flying to see your families for the holidays, get online maybe right now and book that flight. because the fees, they might go up higher fast. our money expert jennifer westhoven says the airlines are loading up yet another round of surcharges. get ready. jen? >> yep. first it was 20 bucks. now it's 40 bucks. the major airlines just doubled the surcharges if you wind up traveling on some of the busiest days around thanksgiving and christmas. that 40 bucks is round trip. comes on top of the base fare. basically the airlines want to make as much money as they can on the days when it was busy. they want to make up for the empty seats on some of the other days in the winter.

they're not expecting a very strong travel season this year. travel experts also say you want to change your strategy this year. last year you could wait till the last minute, maybe get a great last minute sale. this year they say it is best to buy as soon as possible. they think that the flights and the fares are only going to go up. natasha. >> they are getting expensive. i've been looking online, jen. thanks. moving on now, if you -- new this morning, this could be a huge mess. nearly 1 million people are having to find a new way around philadelphia right now. the city's largest transit union went on strike overnight. that means no buses, subways or trolleys in the city and in some of its suburbs. talks broke down over pensions and work rules. transit officials say their offer was competitive. things aren't expected to get better for days in an arkansas town affected by flooding. it was flooded saturday after heavy rains drenched the area

last week. people think the water is runoff from fields. now they practically live in a knee-deep lake. to make things worse, sewer pumps have failed so sewage is mixing with floodwater. >> when i bought the house, they didn't tell me it flooded down here. it's really not livable. any time you can't use the bathroom, your house is not livable. >> a utility company is fixing the pumps but says the drinking water is safe. arkansas was slammed by tornadoes last week plus months of record rain. okay. so what is the forecast holding for today for you? let's check in with meteorologist bob van dillen. bob, rain? snow? what do we got? >> a little of that in the u.p. of michigan. waking up to light snow once again. lake effect. a clipper hits you later on this week. not much to write home about. not a lot of moisture for the systems to work with. a different weather pattern. this one's nice. high pressure right over chicago. that trails all the way down in

towards memphis where it's nice and dry for you. you need about five, maybe seven days of dry air to move on in across the lower gulf coast to help dry things out with flooding. that's exactly what you're going to get. dry air goes all the way to the mid-atlantic. if you're trying to get in or out of the beltway, look at this shot. that is absolutely gorgeous. we're talking about 65 today, maybe 66. it's going to be nice. it's going to be dry for you. maybe a breeze out of the northeast at 15 miles per hour, but that's about it. the flood warned areas, all the spots in light green, eastern texas, louisiana, arkansas, mississippi through st. louis in towards western sections of illinois. that's who had all the heavy rain over the last couple weeks. a dry spell for at least seven, maybe ten days. not a lot of action for you. that's exactly what's going on. high pressure building in across the northeast. a weak cold front ahead of that. light rain was falling around northern parts of vermont, new

hampshire. cold air around marquette around the u.p. zoom in towards the radar. all this is light snow west and to the east. you can see just a few streamers. nothing very organized. it's not going to amount to too much. but it's going to be out there. down to the deep south, looking at more showers offshore from florida. that builds in later this afternoon. and the west coast looks pretty good until you get towards southern california. the fog is in. you can see right around l.a., all this gray shading coming off the pacific and setting up shop right by l.a. down through long beach and stretching in towards san diego, that is dense fog. l.a.x. right now 1/16 of a mile visibility. >> make sure it's not smog there. >> it's definitely fog this time. >> thank you. actor ted danson took on the religious right last night on "the joe behar show" here on hln. here why he says rush limbaugh and others are exploiting their listeners. >> those are the people that really piss me off, to be honest. >> which ones? >> i totally understand people

who are angry and are fearful. i understand people who church is a huge part of their life. i understand people not wanting their daughters to watch mtv. i understand and have empathy for all of those people. the people that come along and make use of those people's fears and insecurities to make money or to make something -- a position for them, you know, more palatable, those people are shame, shame. >> you want to name some names? >> rush. we're talking rush. >> who else? >> you know what? pretty much the religious right does that, by and large. you know? >> they're extremists? >> yeah. >> and they prey on people's fears? >> yeah. >> there's a lot of that. >> people's fears, you totally understand. i understand that. i understand wanting to go to a megachurch because the rest of your life is tough. you know, i understand all of that. but then you come along and organize those people off of their fears and anger, and i think that's -- >> catch "the joe behar show" at

9:00 p.m. eastern here on hln. the ride to work just got a whole lot easier for hundreds of thousands of people. but the reopening of the bridge linking san francisco and oakland came with a warning.

we salute the troops every morning. today's salute is from cynthia gar zcia to her husband. >> my husband is sergeant samuel garcia from the united states marine corps. hey, babe. the girls and i love you and miss you very much. your absence weighs very heavy on our hearts. there's not a day that goes by

that you are not missed. we want to salute you and tell you we are very proud of our marines. to love you doesn't seem like enough these days and we want everybody to know we have one of the best. be careful, god bless, and we love you. >> if you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them, we'd like to help you. go to cnn.com/robin. new numbers this morning show a slight majority of americans approve of how president obama is handling his job. a new cnn opinion research corporation poll finds that 54% of people surveyed gave him a thumb's up. but they're not as happy about how he is handling the economic crisis. 49% say they liked his tax policy. and 47% approved of how he's handling unemployment. the san francisco/oakland bay bridge is up and running again. it reopened yesterday, nearly a week after 5,000 pounds of steel fell right into traffic. transportation officials say that vibrations in the steel

rods caused the break. engineers say they may have to close the bridge again for a permanent fix. no word yet on the cost of the repairs. this past weekend's big florida/georgia football game shattered a record. but it had nothing to do with the score board or the stats. new for you in about 20 minutes, weight until you hear what led to the biggest bust at a gators game ever. lawyers are calling it a nice little stimulus package for hundreds of thousands of walmart employees. they are getting checks from the company in a big legal settlement. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here with more details on that. >> in the past, actually, millions of walmart workers were joined into lawsuits to basically say that things were not right when it came to their paycheck. now hundreds of thousands of them will get checks after a nevada judge approved this big settlement. walmart's going to be paying between $65 million and $85 million settling allegations that it didn't let workers take

their breaks, lunches, manipulated time cards to cut their pay. lawyers for the workers say this is real money. it could be anywhere from $150 to $1,000 a person. it may take a few months for them to get that money. this suit covered 39 lawsuits in multiple states. these are people who already, i believe, were part of the lawsuit, know about the paper work. it's not like, hey, i work for walmart. can i get some cash? in washington the senate powering out a bill for 20 more weeks of jobless benefits. this could help millions of americans through the holidays. the bill that's in the works? for republicans to sign on, they also agree to extend the first time home buyer tax credit. that'll last now through june. the $8,000 credit. the whole bill, by the way, these things ain't free. it'll cost about $20 billion. lawmakers likely, though, trying to get this bill passed before friday when it's very possible

when the monthly employment report comes out that we will see a headline saying that we are at 10% unemployment. the worst level we've seen since the early '80s. we'll be watching that very closely. so strange. we keep seeing little signs the economy's getting better. but the jobs market is still in the tank. all right. let's get you to something a little easier this morning. apparently if you're traveling, it's pretty smooth sailing out there. >> another great day just like yesterday. not many delays. let me show you what we have on. the volume is up. pittsburgh in towards ohio. not much to slow you down. good news. here's what we do have. you can't see it on the radar, wind will pick up later today. boston, new york, atlanta, l.a., denver, minneapolis. a little bit of a wind moving by. watch for that to slow you down about 30 minutes to one-hour delays. 911 operators get some

really weird calls. and here's one of them. >> you get the idea. hear what happened when drunk drivers called to say i want to report myself.

polygamist church leader warren jeffs is appealing his 2007 rape conviction today. his attorneys argue that jeffs should get a new trial because they say the judge improperly seated an alternate jury after deliberations began. jeffs was convicted of rape as

an accomplice for his role in a 14-year-old girl's marriage. the hearing is set for 3:00 p.m. eastern in salt lake city. okay. get this. a football player caught on camera trying to gouge out another player's eyes. his punishment's got some people really worked up this morning. here's rafer weigel with the video. >> we all know that eye gouging happens in football. the question is whether this man should be made an example of. right now he's not being made an example of. florida line backer brandon spikes, you can see it here, jamming his fingers into the face mask of a georgia player. spike's coach urban myer says he doesn't condone his behavior and suspended him for the first half of their game against vanderbilt. a half. spikes did apologize saying he

accepts responsibility. james writes in, i am happy that coach myer levied some sort of punishment, but i feel he deserved at least a one-game suspension. while rhonda wrote, everyone should watch the tapes of each and every football game that is played before you act so shocked and before passing judgment on this one player. it is very common in football at all levels, including high school. okay. if you agree or disagree, go to cnn.com/robin. click on the facebook icon and leave a comment. in other news, the people of new orleans, they got something more to cheer about. the saints keep the good times rolling on with an exciting win over atlanta. the only unbeaten team in the nfc. the falcons had one last chance. a hail mary with just a few seconds left. but it was picked off and the

word is kim kardashian, reggie bush's girlfriend was not there. that's a look at sports. >> oh, but she was thinking of him. >> that's right. >> thanks so much. here's some of the stories we're watching today in your morning express planner. german chancellor angela merkel is meeting with president obama at this hour before addressing congress at 10:00 eastern. she's pushing for a global agreement on climate change. at 11:30 eastern nfl commissioner roger goodell will ask lawmakers to help protect the league's store roid policy from being scrutinized by state laws. yale murder suspect is back in court at 2:00 p.m. police made more than 250 arrests at a college football game this weekend. see what led to the bust that authorities in florida call the biggest ever of its kind. y8

the new york stock exchange has just opened for business. it looks like wall street may hurt because of what's going on in europe. susan lisovicz will break it all down for you when she joins us live in about five minutes from the new york stock exchange. important state elections across the country today may be an early sign of whether republicans are gaining strength. the president worked hard to help democrats in new jersey and virginia. but in both states, the democrats may lose the governor's mansion. both states have long histories of electing governors from whichever party doesn't hold the white house. lawyers for d.c. sniper john allen mohammed say they will file a last minute appeal to stop his execution. he's skcheduled to die by letha

injection next tuesday. mohammed's teenage accomplice is serving life in prison. president obama is meeting with german chancellor angela merkel right now. in about 30 minutes she's going to speak to a joint meeting of congress. she wants lawmakers to support a new global deal to fight climate change. president obama says it's the first time that a german chancellor has ever spoken to both houses at the same time. those are your top stories on this tuesday. welcome back. i'm natasha curry. robin meade is off today. atlanta voters could elect their first white mayor in more than three decades today. councilwoman mary norwood is among the front-runners for the job along with city council president lisa borders and state senator reid. in new york city mayor michael bloomberg is expected to win a third term. but on a much smaller scale than his 2005 victory. billionaire bloomberg put $33 million into tv advertising, ten times as much as his competitor,

city comptroller bill thompson. police say it could be weeks before they identify six women found dead at a home in cleveland. the coroner is collecting dental records for several missing women including nancy kocobs wh lived in the neighborhood. one missing person's advocate says the deaths could have been prevented. >> nancy cobs walked to the store and hasn't been seen since. six families are going to get horrible news. if we had a missing persons department and we had an active, ongoing investigation in all these cases as much as possible, maybe none of this would have happened. >> police are trying to get a warrant to collect dna from a man who lived at the home. convicted rapist anthony sowell. they're also tracing all the places he's lived since he got out of prison in 2005. he has not been charged with any crimes related to those bodies found at his house. searchers are combing north dakota rangeland for three missimiss

ing college students. police say a friend got two calls, one right after the other from one of the women on sunday night. both calls mentioned water and said they needed help and then broke up. the women play softball for dickenson state university. they're bebelieved to be in a white 1997 jeep cherokee with california license plates. gay couples may have a lot in common with straight married couples like age, income and raising kids. a new study finds nearly a third of gay couples who identify themselves as children are raising children. 43% of straight couples are raising kids. voters are deciding whether to keep or repeal a law legalizing same-sex marriage. some people say a football player got a slap on the wrist for seemingly trying to gouge out another player's eyes. >> as you can imagine, thoughts are all over the map. we've generated a lot of

responses from our viewer. in case you didn't hear the story florida line backer brandon spikes was caught trying to gouge the eyes of a georgia player. there it is right there. head coach urban myers suspended spikes for one-half of their game against vanderbilt. a half. for what appears to be assault. the school and the conference are happy with the punishment. are you? should this be over or should the man be disciplined more? randy posted, these athletes are supposed to be role models. when they take part in activities such as this they are displaying improper behavior to the young people who watch and admire them. i completely agree, randy. meanwhile, r.j. from north carolina wrote, football has been and always will be a rough sport. there is no way around it. okay. well, if you agree or disagree, go to cnn.com/robin. click on our facebook icon. we'll try to read your comments on the rare. >> thanks so much. let's get over to bob van

dillen for a check at the forecast. >> good morning. let's start with the west coast. specifically southern los angeles area with all the fog out there. 1/16 mile of a delay at l.a.x. here's los angeles. that satellite picture. a loop of about three hours, that dull shaded gray is all low level cloudiness, all fog coming off the pacific. later today it should basically back back into the pacific oc n ocean. not a threat for the afternoon when it comes to travel delays. for the morning it's out there. high pressure dominating across the eastern sea board. a weak cold front across florida. see the clouds wrapped up there. down south farther still, let me show you what it looks like down in the southern part of the caribbean just off the coast of costa rica and panama. possibly a new tropical depression forming. tropical cyclone formation a possibility in that area that i put in that yellow circle. it's a low level circulation that developed overnight last night. upper level winds are weak. it has a little room to

flourish. we're going to keep our eyes on it. may become a tropical depression today or in the next few days. flood warnings out there from the weekend's rain event, eastern texas into the lower part of the great lake. no rain for at least the next five to six days. high pressure dominates. a different weather pattern for you as opposed to last week. a little bit of light rain falling across central ny. getting back in towards northern vermont, new hampshire. a weak cold front. winds from boston, new york, philadelphia. maybe a weather delay out of the wind. certainly going to be a bumpy ride if you're flying towards new england. 35 towards chicago. that's your forecast. also, southern florida, miami, we recorded this about two hours ago. dolphins splashing around in the biscane bay. there it is. 86 today in miami. that was two hours ago. is it a pod? i know it's a pod of whales.

we'll see. it's murder of crows. we'll see. >> they're hanging out. thanks. volatility has returned to wall street. the dow has gained or lost at least 100 points in six of the past eight sessions. so for a look at where the whole roller coaster ride is going to take us today, let's get over to susan lisovicz live at the new york stock exchange. >> good morning, natasha, in the first seven minutes of trading we're just going down. stocks are lower. taking a cue from europe where concerns about a banking sector have resurfacesurfaced. berk shir hathaway is buying burlington northern. buffet says the purchase is an all-in wager of the economic future of the u.s. stanley works is buying its rival black and decker for $4.5 billion. the deal comes as we're starting to see signs of recovery in the housing market. a good sign as well for the home

improvement market. a bad sign for the jobs market , though. johnson and johnson is cutting 8,000 workers worldwide. it's part of a larger effort to trim costs and simplify its business structure. it used to take year of hard work and a big break to get your lights and name in times square. soon you just have to buy a pair of socks or t-shirt. american eagle has plans to use the 25 foot electronic billboard above its store at the cross roads of the world to post pictures and messages of anyone who makes a purchase in the store. that purchase can be for a pair of socks. there is a quote that i have to read you. it says, narsism knows no bounds in times square. it may be an excellent retail strategy at a tough time for retailers. >> i would have to agree. a lot of people would just buy a pair of socks. >> they want their 15 seconds of fame. >> heck, wrae. thanks so much. a disturbing video of anna nicole smith could become the center of attention in the trial over her death.

>> you've lost your mind. >> huh? >> you've lost your mind. >> remember this video? the defense and prosecutors have a very different story about it. what this tape shows. >> is this a mushroom trip?

new security measures are in place at the california high school where police say a 15-year-old girl was gang raped. the district put up automated lights in the area where they say the whole thing happened. today it's taking bids for security cameras. the superintendent assured people at a rally yesterday that the school is safe. church leaders called for 100 volunteers to help.

>> we believe that if we can have a presence on campus during the lunch hour, in the classroom, that that would help curb some of the negative behavior. >> what i would say to parents is that i've got two daughters myself. and i would have my daughters going to richmond high. >> police have five people in custody. they say more arrests are likely. meanwhile, support is pouring in for the victim. another rally is scheduled this afternoon. richmond police say people from around the country are sending her donations and teddy bears because she collects them. you may remember disturbing video of anna nicole smith dressed up as a clown months before she died of a drug overdose. watch as smith who was pregnant at the time appears to confuse a doll for her unborn child. >> cuddle your baby. >> my baby's over there sleeping. >> your baby down there. >> your baby down here.

>> that one. >> i think i just have a little gas. >> say it again. >> i think i just -- i think i'm having some gas trouble. >> prosecutors say smith's behavior in the video proves her boyfriend, howard k. stern, and her two doctors were keeping her drugged. they showed it at a preliminary hearing last week. defense lawyers say it should not be used as evidence in the trial because smith was acting. they say the part that proves it got edited out. the defendants pleaded not guilty. did you know that our money expert clark howard serves in the georgia state guard? and this weekend, you're going to see him serving the troops. clark and robin teamed up to help soldiers and you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. >> clark, what is the best way to invest in gold? >> other than turning in your wife's jewelry and stuff like that? >> yeah.

>> okay. first, any of those ads you see on tv from all those people to buy your jewelry and all that, run away. second, buying gold is tough. because when you buy actual gold, you have to pay a commission to buy it, you have to pay a commission to sell it. then let's say you put real money into gold. let's say you take all your savings and you put it into gold. gold is something people want to steal. so then you got to pay to lock it up. so there isn't anything i like about buying actual gold. but there's a trick way to buy it that's easy and cheap if gold is what you want to have. you can buy ownership in gold like you buy a stock. and it's called an etf. an exchange traded fund. which sounds complicated, but it's not. and you pay a company to buy gold for you.

they store it for you in a vault. and then when you choose to sell it, you can sell it right away at whatever market price is. it's really, really easy to do. and it saves you a fortune. and you have the same thing owning gold. >> watch "operation clark smart" this weekend at 6:00 a.m., noon and 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on hln. jay leno says that he would return to "the tonight show" if nbc asked him to. leno says he likes his new primetime gig but in an interview with broadcasting and cable magazine he said he's open to the idea of going back. conan o'brien took leno's place, of course, as host of "the tonight show" after 17 years on the job. leno say o'brien is, quote, doig fine. there's probably nothing more grueling than running a marathon. but imagine running it on crutches battling multipresidle diseases. that's what one woman did for more than a day to cross the

finish line.

47 minutes past the hour. the fbi is looking for whoever killed a nun inside her own home

in new mexico. they say the sister never made it to mass sunday and a worried colleague found her. the fbi wouldn't say how she died. she lived at the church which is on a navajo reservation. her diocese says she would respond to this with a spirit of forgiveness towards whoever is responsible. would you pay a tax on your text messages? well, people in viejo, california, will vote on that today. they will decide on expanding a utility tax to include text messages, private phone messages, pagers. the city filed for bankruptcy last year. dozens of california sites use similar measures to raise money. the world series took another dramatic turn, and it's heading back to the bronx now. here's rafer weigel with the latest. >> things are sunny again in philadelphia. these are yankees that are dancing around. but the phillies are the ones dancing now. look at the yankees.

they were on the brink of winning it all. but perhaps a little premature in the celebration. chase utley, the guy with the best name in baseball, hit not one, but two home runs to put the hurt on new york and lead philly to the win. so he is now tied for the most home runs through the series. game six is in new york on wednesday. tied reggie jackson, another former yankee. other baseball news, a milestone has been reached in professional sports when the chicago cubs, according to multiple media sources they have the first openly gay owner, lau laura rickets is an open leez bee yan. she came out in her early 30s and says her family supports her 100%. a woman battling multiple sclerosis finished the new york city marathon monday, a day after it started. she's wearing braces on her back and knee and using crutches completed her 21st new york city marathon in just under 29 hours.

she's a motivational speaker. she also suffers from diabetes and is truly spurs guard told reporters after that bat flew into the at&t center he had to get a rabies shot after he swatted the bat down. and than he picked it up. somehow that bat got in there. he said he got multiple shots. and insists that after swatting it, an usher took it. here he is giving it to that usher. and that usher took the bat outside, and the bat flew away and was fine. that's their story and they're sticking to it. that's sports. >> i don't know what's worse, handing someone your gum or a bat. rafer, thanks. let's check in with bob van dill enfor today's travel update. bob? >> it looks good on the east coast. let me show you what it looks like the you're traveling in or out of atlanta. major hub obviously one of the biggest airports in the world. here's what it looks like. blue skies. temperature is 70. no problems here. out west, different story. we do have a delay right now.

ground stoppage in l.a.x. because of the fog. here the rest of them, boston, gusty winds today. new york city show, 30-60 minute delays. see poor visibility, showers. l.a.x., ground stop right now. that lasts for the next 40 minutes. that's something we're watching. more in just a bit, natasha. >> thanks, bob. if you've never seen the big "g," the harlem globetrotters mascot. he falls on his face and bounces on his head and shows some talent. ♪ can you do that? lots of people clicking on this one. it's our viral video today. we found it on break.com. look at those moves. well, 911 operators got some really weird calls. here's one of them. y8